Springfield bus routes undergo major changes

SMTD asks for public input on overhaul

Margaret Wood knows when her disabled 47-year-old son, Gary, is supposed to be home from work. Gary rides the same bus to work every day, so when he didn’t come home one evening, Margaret Wood became concerned.

“I was out looking for him (Gary) when he didn’t come home in time,” Wood said, recalling how Kerry McCombs, a route supervisor with the Springfield Mass Transit Authority, quickly found Gary and personally drove him to meet Wood.

“Without Mr. McCombs, I don’t know how long I would have been looking…,” Wood says. “Most of the bus drivers are really understanding and helpful to the handicapped. We really appreciate it.”

But Gary’s bus route may soon change, and Margaret Wood isn’t sure the change will be for the better. She voiced her concern April 7 at a public hearing held by the Springfield Mass Transit Authority to get riders’ input on proposed bus route changes.

When he started his job 17 years ago, Gary was trained to use the current bus route, Margaret Wood explains, and the proposed change could cause confusion and a longer walk.

“It’s very hard on a handicapped person to keep oriented and to get to work on time,” Wood explains.

Thomas Whitman, a consultant with engineering firm Perteet, Inc., leads the study that will overhaul nearly all of the SMTD’s bus routes. Even after conducting 600 rider surveys, driver interviews and “breathing a lot of diesel” while studying bus routes, Whitman says it’s impossible to please everyone, but they do try.

“One of the biggest challenges of doing this type of work is trying to weigh the balance of everybody’s needs, to make sure that you can create something that you know will meet some of the unmet needs and impact the least amount of people,” Whitman says.

The study gathered data on ridership and unmet needs within the community, Whitman says, to maximize utilization, reduce redundant routes and provide bus service to places that previous had none, such as the new Wal-Mart off of South Sixth Street.

“The overall goal of this was to adjust the system to serve the new growing areas, make adjustments to routes that are not performing as well as they could and come up with a new system concept that would serve not only Springfield’s needs today, but also in the next five to ten years as well,” Whitman says.

Effective June 7, six routes will run modified courses, while five routes will be discontinued and served by the modified routes or one of two new routes. On Aug. 23, four more routes will be modified, three routes will be dropped and three new routes will be added. Maps of the proposed changes are available at www.SMTD.org.

Linda Tisdale, executive director of the SMTD, says some routes are being dropped because of low ridership.

“The ones that are staying have performed pretty well, but they needed a little bit of adjustment to address new areas of employment or to eliminate sections of the route that weren’t performing well,” Tisdale says. “They’ve been modified to pick up areas where we think they will pick up ridership.

“The whole system is basically being changed in some way,” she says. “It is a major change for Springfield mass transit. … Any [additional] changes at this point should be minor, and I want to make sure the public knows where we’re going to be on June 7 and then on Aug. 23, so I don’t have people standing out there, waiting for a bus on a route that isn’t there any more. I don’t want anybody left behind.”

Comments

Old Comments

I was interviewed by Patrick Yeagle after my testimony at the SMTD April 7th hearing. I also submitted written testimony and have been in contact with executive director, Linda Tisdale, and the consultant, Thomas Wittman.
It was an extreme disappointment to our handicapped son, Gary, and to us today to learn that the testimonies given on April 7 and 8 were the same as a kangaroo court- foregone conclusions had already been made and they were just going through the motions pretending to be fair. We asked for two minor tweaks to Route 14 to get Gary to work. Getting him home would be a challenge with the two possible proposed routes but taking longer to get home is not as hard as getting to work on time.
Even testifying was difficult because we had no schedules and did not really know if anything would work. They appear to want him to use the ACCESS van which charges $2.00 each way and demands a two hour window for pick up. Not workable for Gary.
We have been in Sherwood subdivision for 36 years as of June 1.
My husband and children have used the bus regularly. When we thought
of moving we found that Sherwood had the best bus service in town and decided to stay put. Now we are older and poorer and moving is not an option. So it is hard to accept the changes which are so drastic for
Gary's purposes. Not really good for my older husband who
uses the buses, too.
I appreciated your article and including us in the discussion. It is just so sad
that my testimony and others fell on deaf ears. I just wonder why they even flew Mr. Wittman all the way here again for these kangaroo hearings.
Sincerely, Margaret A. Wood, Springfield, IL